Rename Scanned Documents Based on Their Content (e.g., using OCR)

When working with scanned documents, it’s not uncommon to encounter files with unclear or unhelpful names. This can make it difficult to manage and organize your documents, especially if you’re dealing with a large collection. One way to overcome this challenge is to rename your scanned documents based on their content. This can be achieved using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, which allows you to extract text from images.

Why Rename Scanned Documents?

• Improved organization: Renaming your documents based on their content makes it easier to find and retrieve specific files.
• Increased accuracy: By using OCR technology, you can ensure that your document names are accurate and consistent.
• Simplified management: With clear and descriptive names, you’ll be able to manage your documents more efficiently.

How to Rename Scanned Documents using OCR

To rename your scanned documents using OCR, you’ll need to use a Python script that extracts text from images and renames the files accordingly. Here’s an example code snippet that demonstrates how to do this:

import pytesseract
from PIL import Image
import os

# Set the path to the directory containing your scanned documents
doc_dir = '/path/to/documents'

# Set the path to the OCR output directory
output_dir = '/path/to/ocr/output'

# Loop through each file in the directory
for filename in os.listdir(doc_dir):
    # Open the file using PIL
    img = Image.open(os.path.join(doc_dir, filename))
    
    # Extract the text using OCR
    text = pytesseract.image_to_string(img)
    
    # Extract the document title from the text
    title = text.split('\n')[0].strip()
    
    # Rename the file based on the document title
    os.rename(os.path.join(doc_dir, filename), os.path.join(output_dir, title + '.pdf'))

In this example, the script loops through each file in the specified directory, extracts the text using OCR, and then renames the file based on the document title. You’ll need to install the pytesseract and PIL libraries to run this code. You can do this using pip:

pip install pytesseract pillow

Conclusion

Rename your scanned documents based on their content using OCR to improve organization, accuracy, and management. With a Python script like the one demonstrated above, you can automate the process of renaming your files and ensure that they’re accurately and consistently labeled.

Further Reading

For more information on using OCR in Python, check out the PyTesseract documentation. If you’re new to Python, consider starting with a beginner’s guide like Python Tutorial.

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